228 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
SUCCESS OF THE FARMER. 
The success of the farmer is in propor¬ 
tion to the amount of knowledge he brings 
to bear upon his profession, and not on the 
strong hands or capital employed, nor any 
other exterior advantage. Like most other 
undertakings, it depends on the mind of the 
man. The hands are the instruments by 
which the plow is guided, or a scythe or 
fork is wielded, and strong ones are neces¬ 
sary for the work ; but they are only the in¬ 
struments of the controlling intellect which 
plans, devises, arranges, and controls the 
whole. Dolts do not make the best farmers, 
but the men who think are they who will 
succeed here just as they will anywhere 
else. 
If this be true we can see at a glance 
where improvement in agriculture is to com¬ 
mence. The farmer is required to be a 
thinking man, and he is the best farmer who 
brings the best trained intellect to the work-— 
the soundest logic, the best judgment, and 
the purest heart. It is true that men acquire 
considerable skill in most pursuits of mere 
repetition of their processes ; by habit a far¬ 
mer may go through the yearly routine of 
sowing a crop, reaping and harvesting the 
same, just as his father had done, without 
ever thinking of the reasons which should 
decide his course. A certain degree of suc¬ 
cess will often attend such farming, but let 
anything new occur to break in upon his 
habit or routine of things, and our imitator 
is at his wit’s end at the first corner. Mere 
instinct never invented anything new, but it 
may repeat old processes skillfully. 
The farmer is styled the “ Lord of the 
Soil,” and certainly the appellation per¬ 
tains to him, if he has the ability to appre¬ 
ciate the high station. This ability is the 
result of knowledge. This knowledge, too, 
enables him to unite science and art, which 
is necessary to constitute a good farmer. 
This union must be derived from book learn¬ 
ing, which by too many has been considered 
wholly superfluous and its teachings dis¬ 
tasteful. What other art or science is sup¬ 
posed to be attainable in any considerable 
degree without reading or study 1 Why 
should the farmer alone rely on intuition— 
on instinct for his improvement, and be di¬ 
rected in his employment by habit ? Why 
should he consider himself nothing more 
than the head tool of his implements and but 
the mainspring of their movements, while 
the mechanic and the artizan, by their sci¬ 
ence, seem to infuse intellect into them. 
If knowledge be necessary in any occupa¬ 
tion, it is preeminently so in that of the 
farmer. The mechanic has no call to inves¬ 
tigate the elements which are the basis of 
the material of his handicraft. His stock is 
before him, and his tool, guided by the uner¬ 
ring hand and practical eye of professional 
skill, gives form and finish to his work. 
Not so with the business of the farmer ; he 
may as readily learn its mechanical parts, 
but he has problems to solve and mysteries 
to investigate. He should be familiar with 
the component parts of the substance on 
which he bestows his labor—their relative 
proportions, their affinities, their separate 
and compound agencies, and the influence of 
other bodies in their adaptation to the results 
he is laboring to obtain. In short, he must 
know the necessary and intimate connection 
between cause and efl’ect. 
I have said that the profession of agricul¬ 
ture requires more study than that of the ar¬ 
tizan. If this be true, it is fortunate for the 
farmer that he can command more time 
tor its acquisition. Winter is comparative¬ 
ly, and to him more peculiarly, a season of 
leisure. Those who do not possess books 
on this subject can readily borrow them. 
But a farmer is the last person who'should 
live by borrowing. Let me recommend a 
better course. Let an agricultural library 
be established by an association in the town 
consisting of a select number of standard 
works upon this subject, with the lighter 
productions and periodicals of the day. 
General knowledge, independent of mental 
enjoyment, is important in all occupations— 
not only as it may direct the hand, but as it 
calls into exercise other energies conducive 
to the common good. H. G. Eastman. 
Rural New-Yorker. 
THE STATE POULTRY SHOW. 
This exhibition was held at Utica, the last 
week in November. According to the Utica 
Gazette, “this was also the best exhibition 
of fowls ever made by our State Society. 
The display was highly creditable to the 
efforts of its officers, and it is rather unex¬ 
pected that it should have drawn together 
such a comparatively small number of vis¬ 
itors.” Among the large exhibitors are 
named E. E. Platt and Geo. Anderson of 
this city ; D. S. Heffron of Utica, to whom 
was awarded the prize for the largest collec¬ 
tion ; H. Johnson, of Paterson, N. J.; Cum¬ 
mings of Rochester; F. W. Collins, of East 
Bloomfield ; George Synder, of Rhinebeck ; 
T. B. Miner, and Mr. Hart, of Clinton ; and 
Mr. Wright, of Utica. 
After the reading of the report of the 
Judges, the Society proceded to the election 
of officers for the ensuing year, when the 
following Board was unanimously elected • 
President —Francis Rotcii, of Morris. 
Vice-Presidents —C. W. Goddard, Albany; 
F. W. Collins, East Bloomfield ; A. A. Hud¬ 
son, Syracuse. 
Cor. Sec'y. —R. C McCormick, Jr., Wood- 
haven, L. I. 
Recording Sec'y and Treas. —C. M. Schole- 
field, Yorkville. 
Board of Managers .— I). S. Heffron, Uti¬ 
ca ; Samuel T. Taberg, Dutchess; P. F. 
Peck, Yonkers; R. C. McCormick, New- 
York ; M. M. Kimmey, Cedar Hill; George 
St. George, York Mills; Thomas Gould, 
Aurora; G. Pitts, Honeoye; R. H. Van 
Rensselaer, Morris ; Mr. Haight, Rochester, 
G. Mallons, Macedon; S. V. C. Van Rens¬ 
selaer, Claverack; L. M. Taylor, Utica ; N. 
S. Smith, Buffalo ; G. W. Herring, Marcel- 
lus; George Anderson, Albany; E. Giles, 
Sauquoit; M. Vassar, Po’keepsie ; Elihu 
Buntt, Burdett; Leroy Mowry, Greenwich. 
It was also recommended that the board of 
managers appoint the next exhibition of the 
Society at Albany, at the same time that the 
winter show of the State Agricultural Soci¬ 
ety is held, in February 185G. 
Country Gentleman. 
Soldiers' Pluck. —A surgeon writing from 
the Alma says—“ The pluck of a soldier no 
one has yet truly described. They laugh at 
pain and will scarcely submit to die. It is 
perfectly marvelous, this triumph of mind 
over body. If a limb were torn oft'or crushed 
at home, you would have them brought in 
fainting, and in a state of dreadful collapse. 
Here they come with a dangling arm or a 
riddled elbow, and it’s ‘ Now, doctor, be quick 
if you please—I’m not done so bad but I can 
get away back and see!’ And many of 
these brave fellows, with a lump of tow wrung 
out of cold water wrapped round their stumps, 
crawled to the rear of the fight, and with 
shells bursting around them and balls tearing 
up the sods at their feet, watched the pro¬ 
gress of the battle. I tell you as a solemn 
truth that I took off the foot of an officer, 
Captain-, who insisted on being helped 
on his horse again, and declared that he could 
fight now that his ‘foot was dressed.’ Sur¬ 
geon -told him that if he mounted he 
would burst the hgatures and die on the spot, 
but for all that he would have returned to the 
hill if he could have prevailed on anybody to 
help him to mount.” 
“SCHEIDAH SCHNAPPS." 
There is an article going the rounds, now- 
a-days, named as above, that is attracting a 
good deal of notice ; and lest we should be 
considered “ out of time,” if we did not call 
attention to it, we offer our friends the fol¬ 
lowing suggestions : It seems to be a remark¬ 
able discovery that one Wolfe has made, in 
these times of Maine Law effort and prog¬ 
ress, even a pleasant alcoholic liquor, that 
may be used as a beverage without injury, 
and as a medicine, with wonderful success. 
It is said not to “fire the brain” or “fur the 
tongue,” but being “ satisfying” and “ health¬ 
ful,” preserves the consumer from “ that 
fierce desire for stimulants, begotten and 
perpetuated by the use of adulterated spir¬ 
its.” And it is not only offered as a “ spe¬ 
cific in many painful diseases,” but it is said 
of it, that “ whenever and wherever it is requi¬ 
site to administer spirituous liquors for any 
purpose, this is the liquor that should be ad¬ 
ministered.' 1 ' Wonderful discovery! Im¬ 
mortal discoverer! But with this new-born 
empiric, and his notable cure-all and health- 
preserver, we are not a little surprised to 
find associated the names of a number of 
physicians. Before us is a pamphlet, setting 
forth the proofs and evidences of the purity 
and “ medical properties ” of this innocent 
alcoholic beverage, and specific for disease, 
and a number of pages are devoted to what 
are called certificates of physicians approv¬ 
ing its use ; but, upon examining these cre¬ 
dentials, we find but few of them that are 
really recommendatory. These medical gen¬ 
tlemen have either been supplied with the 
“ Schnapps,” or asked, by note or circula" 
to accept of it, and they have replied as in 
the following extracts, which are selected 
for their brevity, though given in full, as 
they appear in the pamphlet: 
• “I am aware of the medical properties of 
pure Holland gin.” 
“Ifit answers my expectatievns, I will be 
happy to prescribe it for my patients, in 
dropsical and nephritic cases.” 
“I would frequently prescribe gin for my 
patients, if I knew where I could get that 
which is fit for medicine.” 
“ That a pure article for medicinal purpo¬ 
ses is very much needed, I fully agree with 
you.” 
Such is the character of the recommenda¬ 
tions, as they are called. There is scarcely 
an instance mentioned, in which it has been 
used and its value certified to ; and yet these 
medical gentlemen have allowed themselves 
unwittingly to be brought before the public 
by such a nian, who has taken advantage of 
their civility in respectfully replying to his 
applications, as co-workers with himself in 
the sale of his liquor. Physicians cannot be 
too careful to avoid these designing persons ; 
for often by them, as Tupper has it, “ the 
light of a thoughtful spirit is quenched be¬ 
neath the bushel of commerce ; and they re¬ 
joice when they can ensnare honest and fair¬ 
dealing men in the traps their own cunning 
has set. And then, if the beguiled, finding 
themselves cheated, expostulate and resist, 
like the Ephesian silversmith who made 
shrines for the goddess Diana, they may 
turn with scornful laugh, and say triumph¬ 
antly, in the midst of their growing posses¬ 
sions, ‘ Sirs, ye know that by this craft we 
have our wealth.’ ” And truly, in this is the 
mainspring of their conduct. May w r e not 
say to our brethren, in the language of the 
sainted physician, Luke, “Take heed, and 
beware of covetousness.” These empirics 
are covetousness personified. 
N. J. Medical Magazine. 
